The End Is Here. June 1, 2010

Wow. I can’t believe that the semester is over. This past year (well, academic year) SCOOP has been amazing. And we’ve made it to the two year mark! The early years for any co-op are tough, and there are still some kinks that need to be worked out, but I think that we have accomplished a lot in the past year. Some highlights include: starting to weigh our compost, maple syrup from the Natick Community Farm, SUSTAINABLE MEAT CONSUMPTION?!?!? [aka The Rabbit], switching to organic Fair Trade tea*, and continuing to branch out our discussion of what makes certain foods more sustainable than others. For only our second year up and running, I’d say we are in a pretty good place.

So, all in all, SCOOP is awesome, this past year was awesome, and 2009-10 Scoopies are awesome. Caitlin, Emily, Eliza, Devaja, Jennie, Melanie, and Alana: you are already missed! Best of luck with your adventures this summer and next year! And for those of you who are not familiar with how cool the average Scoopie is, these ladies are off to jobs, internships, travels, and then some.

This blog will be on hiatus until the Fall when we all return to Simpson West, but check back then because we have some great new members and next year will be full of new experiments, culinary and beyond, as we continue to try to live sustainably at Wellesley College and start to focus more on other areas besides food in which we could adapt more sustainable practices. In the meanwhile (shameless plug) check out http://wellesleygirlscanfarm.tumblr.com/ to stay updated on a similarly minded group, Regeneration, the Wellesley student-run farm, and their summer interns’ work.

Happy Summer!

tanya**

*check out http://www.natickfarm.org/ and http://www.arborteas.com/ .

** I can’t write this post without at least mentioning the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Here is some background about the spill. Here are some websites/organizations that you can check out in order to help: Save Our Gulf, The Gulf Coast Fund, The National Wildlife Federation, The Gulf Restoration Network, the National Auborn Society, Meet-up Everywhere, Act Against Oil, The Sierra Club,   And please sign this petition and contact your representatives to demand that the responsible parties have to pay for the complete clean-up. Disasters like this are both avoidable and unacceptable.

Oh John Muir. May 1, 2010

“Everyone needs beauty as well as bread.”

Hey pretty allium won’t you sing me a song April 19, 2010

Tonight Tanya and I are cooking with ramps, a first for both of us.  Unlike so many of their native compatriots, these little chaps have made the leap from the West Virginia and Tennessee backwoods into haute cuisine.  The internets tells me they are like scallions but more so, and are only available for a few weeks in the spring.  Given that the G+T Plan For Culinary Success could be laid out thus–– 1. Mince at least 1 head of garlic. 2. Caramelize onions. 3. Make dinner 4. Deglaze and reduce–– more members of the allium family are more than welcome to our gourmandizing, especially if they’re as wild and local as these are!

Probably because they’re rul fresh–– Emily bought them on Saturday from [?]––, their incredibly bright green fronds are so tender that rinsing them was enough to cover them with bruises.  Sorry guys!  I wasn’t sure whether to slice the root end like a scallion or leave it whole– going with the latter, because the recipe we’re working loosely off of says nothing.  The Times suggests a “fricassee of morels, wild ramps, and spring garlic”; I wish we had that many pretentious ingredients on hand, but we’ve got button mushrooms and regular garlic.

Love turnips and celeriac and parsnips and apples though I do [especially after this winter, my first of prioritizing local produce], I am tremendously excited to remake acquaintances with green things. Because we’ve only got about half the amount of ramps and twice the amount of mushrooms as the Times thinks we should have, I am considering flinging in arugula also.  Arugula!   Truth be told I’ve been having trouble eating greens and vegetables without a second thought of late, which is a rough spot to be in for a vegetarian.  The one unfortunate consequence of learning about plant structure, in its astonishing complexity and stunning functionality, the more gnashing all those layers of exquisitely differentiated tissue twixt the tusks seems a travesty.

However this is a short-lived dilemma. THEY ARE SO DELICIOUS.

Jenny

Sustainability vs. Environmental Health April 13, 2010

Sustainability and environmental health tend to go hand in hand.  Vehicles that produce fewer emissions help reduce climate change and prevent people from inhaling fumes.  Switching to greener chemicals, whether for dry cleaning or flame retardants, makes for healthier people and ecosystems.  This semester, however, Scoop has had a dilemma where sustainability and our personal environmental health seem to be in conflict.  When we returned for the start of spring semester, all of our faucets had little laminated signs above them, instructing us to let water run for 5 minutes at the beginning of each day and for 1 minute before use.  After some investigation, we learned that lead levels in our drinking water hover around the state limit for acceptable levels–sometimes over, sometimes under.  While Wellesley monitors the situation, they recommend that we flush out the pipes as much as possible before we start drinking that water.  But five minutes, or even a minute, is an incredibly long time when you’re a college student rushing to class, nevermind a sustainable college student who doesn’t even let the water run while brushing your teeth.  Each Scoopie has developed their own approach to addressing the situation–from ignorance to a fastidious use of Brita filters–but the scenario on the whole got me thinking about other instances where traditionally sustainable actions conflict with what’s best for environmental health, and how those situations can be resolved.  Another example receiving recent attention is that better insulated houses tend to better trap radon.  What other examples are there?  And what creative solutions have been developed?

-Emily

A public service announcement April 7, 2010

Spring, how I have missed you.  Spring is in the air, the soil, and most especially in the soggy morass covering much of the arboretum.  The miracle of consistently warm weather is triggering some fond memories, particularly with regard to summer farming.  Two years ago, I spent a summer at Smith Gardens Community Farm, a lovely little CSA in western Wisconsin.  If you love luscious Sungold tomatoes, baby goats, and freakishly large quantities of cucumbers, this could very well be the place for you.  Of course, many other small farms are in need of seasonal hands.  Where can such wondrous opportunities be found?  Hop on over to the ATTRA (http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/internships/), the site with the big green map of US (and Canadian!) farm internships.  Internships are available to fit most every interest, schedule, and locational preference (personally, I have my eye on BC).  Say “yes” to a really good summer – say “yes” to farming.

*The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Scoop, ATTRA, or any other acronymized organization*

- Caitlin

Thoughts on the internal battle with eating local… March 11, 2010

Here at the Wellesley Sustainability Coop, we have been thinking really hard about the “best way” to eat, both for the planet and ourselves.  It certainly isn’t easy.  Last year, we thought we were pretty much on top of things when we decided to go local, and when we couldn’t go local, we would go organic.  We’ve been vegetarian up until this semester, when we decided meat would be included about once a month, from local, sustainable, sources.  A few of us have been following closely the food blog (linked to on the bottom right hand corner of the page) and participating in the food reading group.  We’ve started to read “Just Food”, and realized what a tangled mess straightening out what the impact of our food really is.

The answer is very elusive, especially with what limited information we have about where our food comes from and how much carbon that production method takes.  So here is a cool idea that would make our lives a whole lot easier: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007082.html  The article talks about carbon labeling.  Wouldn’t that be great?  Since agriculture uses 18% more fossil fuels than transportation, according to the FAO, not to mention messing up the nitrogen cycle and creating lots of waste, changing how we feed ourselves just might be the most important thing we can do for the planet.  And changing how we eat won’t be very effective until we know how to change it.  Even living in a community where we mainly focus on our environmental impact from food, all the time and energy we put in still does not produce a satisfactory answer.  Having more accurate and helpful labeling would go a long way in changing the way we choose to eat, and would make a bigger impact on those who don’t have the time to do all this confusing research.  You could even get a group together and push for legislation on carbon labeling, like California is doing: http://www.carbonlabelca.org/

For more on carbon labeling, check out these sources:

http://www.carbon-label.com/

http://www.carbonlabeling.org/

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/05/07/food.carbonlabeling/

Jennie

Rabbit Stew! February 23, 2010

Thursday February 18th Scoop had its first ever meat-based dinner. On the menu: Rabbit Stew. The rabbit had been purchased from the Natick Community Organic farm for $26 the day before. For someone who has very little experience cooking meat, the process of cutting the rabbit up into stew meat, and later reducing the carcass into a hearty soup stock was a new, and at times slightly uncomfortable experience. Below is the recipe I used, supplemented with chili powder, cumin, and a liberal handful of fresh rosemary. There are many rabbit stew recipes to choose from in the expanse of the internet. This one was chosen for the red wine.
• 1 rabbit, about 3 pounds, cut up
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 teaspoon salt
• dash pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups water
• 4 cups dry red wine
• 2 cups diced carrots
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 4 ounces sliced mushrooms, sauteed
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup water

The whole ordeal took most of the afternoon but was well worth it.

Are you Sustainable enough for SCoop? February 17, 2010

SCoop is starting its application process for next year soon, and we’ve begun to encourage people to consider applying. But several people I’ve invited so far responded with, “Sorry, I’m not sustainable enough for SCoop.”  I’d like to take this opportunity to set the record straight: You (yes you) are probably selling yourself short.  Sustainability is the buzz word around so many huge issues these days–think the Copenhagen climate conference, Haiti’s recovery and future development, or even balancing the national budget–that we forget what the term really means. More specifically, what the term means to us here at SCoop. I offer you a few definitions to get you thinking.

1. (From the United Nations) Forms of progress that meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

2. (From Wikipedia) For humans it is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which in turn depends on the wellbeing of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources.

3. (From the World Wildlife Fund) Sustainability is improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems.

Note that only two of those definitions (2 and 3) mention the environment, and not even in so many words. Especially, notice the use of words like “long-term,” “future generations,” “well-being,” and “quality of life.” So it’s a wonder that SCoop is associated only with a zero-carbon way of life when these definitions, in fact, seem to be describing a sustainable lifestyle that is entirely holistic.  Sustainability, to us, is thinking broadly instead of narrowly. It’s thinking in whole generations, whole foods, whole earths.  For example, instead of thinking of meat in terms of price and nutrition, I think of it in terms of local vs. non-local, organic vs. non-organic, grass-fed or corn-fed—all of which, by the way, influence the price, nutrition, deliciousness, and impact of the total life cycle of that meat. But the sustainability of meat is a special interest of mine. I don’t necessarily think about all that when I feed my gum addiction.

Moral of the Story: There is no standard for what it means to “Be Sustainable” in SCoop. We are all committed to the idea in different ways. Some of us can whip up tofu and vegetables into something delicious. Some of us are activists and volunteers. Some of us have bikes instead of cars. One among us would rather bike 20 feet than walk (ahem). We don’t expect that you embody the perfect environmentalist when you apply to SCoop: we only expect that you have begun to think critically about your life’s whole impact, and that you’re willing to try putting those thoughts into action.

Signed: Leslye

Non compost mentis: a compost post February 6, 2010

So simple, so satisfying, and so rewarding: composting is dear to my heart, and I daresay it is one of Scoop’s most concretely effective commitments.  What finer transformation is there than that from from gnarly celeriac peels and sketch leftovers into friable, delicious earthy compost?

As part of our effort to document our actions, not only for posterity, but also as an avenue to explore the consequences of those actions more fully, we’ve begun weighing how much compost we’ve created each time we take it out.

Week one!

–Jenny

Edit:  After  weeks of composting, it looks like our habits are somewhat erratic.  What I am taking away from this is that there are ways of eating that don’t create much waste and those that do create more; the fact that we’re composting our waste and reapplying it to a source of some of our food to me amortizes the evident excess from sometimes producing more than a minimum.

Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride